


Different

by magickalmolly



Category: High School Musical (Movies)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-15 09:07:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9228176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/magickalmolly/pseuds/magickalmolly
Summary: This is different. Different than what he thought he'd be doing at this time in his life.





	

**Author's Note:**

> College AU. Originally written May 30, 2008.

It's five a.m. when Chad turns off his alarm. He lies back on the mattress and smiles when the warm body next to him rolls over and scoots closer. Ryan's a snuggler, at least in his sleep, and Chad indulges for a few minutes while he stares up at the darkened ceiling, thinking.

This is different. Different than what he thought he'd be doing at this time in his life. But who knew when he came to New York he'd run into someone from high school? Someone he honestly never expected to see again. Not Chad, that's for sure.

Of course, it's not as if he didn't know Ryan was in New York. Chad had known about Ryan's college plans since senior year. And even though they'd become good friends, and that there had been the possibility of more (well, okay, the hook-ups had been hot), both boys thought whatever was between them wouldn't last two thousand miles apart. 

So Ryan had moved, Chad had stayed, and that was that. 

Well, it had been until, some four years later, Chad walked off a plane and into a random Starbucks in Manhattan. And there, on the working side of the counter, dark-haired and all grown up and more gorgeous than Chad remembered, was Ryan Evans. 

Seeing Ryan had been like getting hit in the belly with a basketball. Chad had been grateful for the morning crowd -- the long line had given him the time he'd needed to catch his breath. 

When Chad stepped up, Ryan had greeted him with delighted surprise. Both expressed their apologies for falling out of touch with one another, and before Chad could move on to retrieve his latte, he impulsively invited Ryan to lunch. He insisted, firmly and to himself at least, that taking Ryan out was simply so they could catch up. It had nothing to do with wanting more time to cataloge all the ways in which Ryan had become hotter.

Over pastrami sandwiches and potato salad, both Ryan and Chad discovered a lot had changed in four years. Four years later found Ryan with a pet dog and working as a barista between school and off-off-off Broadway shows. He sometimes sang in a local pub, had a close circle of friends, and was content with the new life he'd made for himself. 

For Chad, four years later found him with pierced ears and a goatee and a string of failed relationships. He'd come out to his family, and changed his major. Twice. Chad was ready for something new, and was pretty sure whatever it was it wasn't in Albuquerque. He was seriously considering moving away from the only life he'd ever known in an effort to find it.

Lunch moved from the deli around the corner to Ryan's apartment, and as the afternoon faded into evening, shy glances and easy laughter faded into nervous touches and slow, hungry kisses. Laying in one another's arms much later, exhausted and giddy and utterly spent, Chad realized even though they both had changed, the chemistry between them definitely hadn't.

But that only complicated things. Because what was between them was more than physical attraction. Yeah, Ryan had gone from a pretty teenager to a gorgeous adult, but...he was also funny. And confident. And charming. Age had only sharpened Ryan's wicked sense of humor, but he still was sweet and earnest. He was smart, and fun to be with, and everything he'd been in high school, magnified a by a hundred. By a thousand.

Ryan wasn't at all what Chad had been looking for when he came to New York. 

But Ryan was exactly what Chad wanted.

Four days after he arrived (and Ryan had arrived back in his life), Chad flew home. He and Ryan were reduced to e-mails and phone calls, all the while not knowing if Chad would transfer to New York. Not knowing if Chad _could_ transfer to New York. As much as neither of them liked it, school had to come first, and so much depended on answers from other people. 

More and more, Chad and Ryan knew they just wanted to be together, and waiting for those answers was hard. 

But, strangely, surprisingly, it all worked out. Chad received a couple of graduate program offers, and picked the one he liked most. Near the end of summer he sold off most of his stuff, packed his car with the rest, and for the very first time made the long drive from Albuquerque to New York. 

It's been three months since Chad walked up the five flights of stairs to Ryan's -- no, **their** \-- apartment with the last moving box. Three months of mismatched schedules and sleepy smiles across the breakfast table. Three months of bickering over how to fit both Chad's sports gear and Ryan's shoes in one closet. Three months of giggling over homework and pizza before ignoring both to make-out on the couch. Three months with the knowledge that there will be a warm body to share the bed with every night. Three months waking up next to that same warm body every morning. Three months of a new life, for the both of them, but one that feels strangely comfortable. Comfortable, and safe, even though it's so very different.

Chad's learning to like different. Because different isn't always bad. As he slides an arm around Ryan's shoulder and presses a kiss into dark, sleep-tousled hair, Chad thinks to himself that sometimes different can be very, very good. 

~fin~


End file.
